A proposed deepwater container port at Bremore in north Co Dublin (Ireland) may be moved farther north to Gormanston, Co Meath, to avoid encroaching on a Neolithic complex of passage tombs. A spokesman for Treasury Holdings, which is planning to develop the new facility in partnership with Drogheda Port, confirmed that one of the options now being considered was to 'shift it off Bremore headland' for archaeological reasons. He said it had become clear at an early stage that the Neolithic complex at Bremore was 'very significant'.
     The developers would be anxious to avoid it by examining alternative locations, such as Gormanston. However, no final decision has been taken. One of the constraints is that the Gormanston site is believed to contain another archaeological complex, though this is not thought to be as significant as the one located at Bremore. "We've done a significant amount of preliminary work, including archaeological investigations by Margaret Gowen and Company," the spokesman said, adding that Treasury would now be taking on an environmental specialist to assess the Gormanston option. It is likely to be autumn before a firmer proposal will be put out for consultation.
     An Taisce's monuments and antiquities committee has warned that any port development at Bremore would "completely obliterate a passage tomb cemetery of Neolithic date with affinities to Newgrange".

Source: The Irish Times (23 February 2010)